Allstate Corp Makes New Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Allstate Corp bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 8,441 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,132,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $315,996,000 after buying an additional 94,026 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $17,805,000 after acquiring an additional 17,133 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $252,272,000 after acquiring an additional 452,339 shares during the last quarter. DJE Kapital AG acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,306,000. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $14,825,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of YUM stock traded up $1.60 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $158.96. 1,573,823 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,957,350. The company has a market capitalization of $44.37 billion, a PE ratio of 30.45, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $148.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.03.

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Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.71 dividend. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $151.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total transaction of $816,392.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,353,416.32. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products.